Got it

Her emergency was now. The babysitter, Kevin, was face-down in his phone, earbuds in, oblivious to the quiet apocalypse unfolding in the kitchen.

Alysha tilted her head, all innocence and venom. "Emergency," she whispered, chewing loudly. "I was sad."

Step two: The Approach. She tiptoed, not with stealth, but with the exaggerated cartoon sneak of a cat burglar in a silent film. She slid across the linoleum in her socked feet, a tiny wraith with a mission.